MARSHALL - Madison County is "where woke comes to die," Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Jeremy Hensley said during a recent candidates' forum.
He also took a swipe at the annual Mermaid Parade during his closing comments, which drew spirited applause from some in the audience and raised eyebrows among others.
"If you're here tonight and you believe in things like the Mermaid Parade that comes to Marshall, or men dressed up like women and mermaids walking around the streets of Marshall in front of kids ... then I'm probably not a good choice for you," Hensley said. "Madison County's values and Madison County's culture is not like our neighbors, and nor do we want them to be. Don't move to Madison County, fall in love with it for what it is, and then want to change
it. You need to let Madison County change you. We can continue to move Madison County forward without changing what makes it special, because Madison County needs to be where woke comes to die, and common sense continues to thrive."
The 18th annual Mermaid Parade & Festival was held June 6-7.
Five of the six board candidates — Bill Briggs, Shannon Dowler, Connie Molland, Alan Wyatt and Hensley — fielded questions for more than an hour during the Sept. 22 forum.
WNC Grassroots Media reporter Sarah Scully served as moderator. The Madison County Chamber of Commerce organized the event, hosted by AB Tech's Madison campus in Marshall.
Briggs, Hensley and Wyatt, also a current commissioner, are Republicans. Briggs, 37, owns a property maintenance company specializing in pressure washing and lives in Mars Hill. Hensley, 47, has been a Verizon service technician for 20 years. Wyatt, 50, is a sales representative for L&W Supply in Arden. He is a firefighter with Ebbs Chapel Volunteer Fire Department and is president of the county firefighters association.
Both Hensley and Wyatt live in Mars Hill and have served as commissioners since 2022.
Dowler and Molland are Democrats. Dowler, a family physician and health policy consultant, is in her second term on the Madison County Board of Health. Molland owns Flow Gallery in Marshall and has been active with the Downtown Marshall Association and Rotary Club of Madison County for years. She was named the Rotary Club's first district governor in 2024.
Democrat Mark Snelson did not attend. Snelson served on the board from 2018 to 2022 and served as the board's chair in his final year. He is director of the county emergency medical services, where he has worked since 1990.
The three top vote-getters will win seats on the board.
The forum touched on topics including the economy, taxes, accountability, county youths and the question of resources for towns versus rural communities.
Closing statements
Molland said residents have raised the issues of the economy, taxes, and the Public Service Complex, an 80,000-square-foot facility to include a judicial center at 500 Medical Park Drive in Marshall. The project broke ground in July. It will house the Department of Social Services, clerk of court, inspection, child support, county administration, information technology, as well as county offices such as register of deeds, zoning and planning. It also will include space for the board of elections and commissioner meetings.
"When we first started hearing about the project, we were told that it would not include county tax dollars. We hope that that's going to be the case, but right now what we're hearing — and I know that the county manager and commissioners are working hard to close that $27 or $30 million gap — hope is not a strategy," Molland said.
"I think it totally makes sense that we include the county services in that facility, and have them in better facilities than they're in. But I'm also going to go on record and say three things: One, $89 million for this facility seems excessive to me. I do not think that it was good stewardship to begin a project without having the funding in place. And I absolutely think that the public should have been included in the conversations about this project long ago."
Wyatt said the current commissioner board has spent "countless hours sitting, praying and crying over" its decisions, including the Public Service Complex.
"God granted us this opportunity to start this Public Service Complex, and to do it wisely, and not put our money back into old buildings that have been flooded every 10 years. Years ago, where the county offices are (on U.S. 25-70 in Marshall), they were put there 21 years ago by the last flood," Wyatt said. "That was a Band-Aid fix. We are done with Band-Aid fixes."
Briggs said he will use common sense and his Christian values to make decisions.
"I will be a good steward of the county's money," he said, adding he will work with the Madison County Board of Education as much as possible, and support the school system as much as he can, as well as all county employees. "I understand the value of a dollar, because I know what it takes to earn one. Every dollar in the budget represents someone's hard work, especially while raising a family, as many of you are. God has blessed this county, and I think it is up to us to be responsible and make decisions based on faith and morals."
Dowler spoke about the importance of health care.
"We've got strong primary care in Madison County, but we have to travel long distances for specialty care — missing days of work or trying to find transportation when you don't have a reliable car or the gas money to do it," Dowler said. "Our life expectancy in Madison County is 1.7 years shorter than the rest of North Carolina, and it's four years shorter than the rest of the country.
"My job as an elected official is not going to be to vote my opinion. It's to be to listen to you, to hear what the community has to say, and to vote in the best interest of that community and the voice of the community."
Johnny Casey is the Madison County communities reporter for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison County is 'where woke comes to die,' board vice chair says during forum
